If they didn’t want her to hear them, they shouldn’t have started the conversation in the first place. No, actually, if they were going to act like this they should’ve just left her in bed with Brendan. After all, she wasn’t the one pounding on their doors at ten in the morning.
Confusion gave way to anger as they continued to stare at her as if she didn’t belong. She was about to demand Danny take her home when Jason stood. The sound of his chair scraping against the floor echoed in the silence like a gunshot.
Ready to go off at the slightest provocation, she glared as he approached. She hadn’t asked to be human, and never expected special treatment as sister to the Premier. She knew she didn’t belong in their discussions, because she didn’t belong in their pack. And they’d never hear her ask to be included, either. But this was their parents’ home, her home. How dare they make her feel as if she didn’t belong.
Instead of talking, Jason swept her hair aside with one hand. His face darkened as he looked at her neck. Without a word he leaned down and took a deep breath.
Shock made her step back. She’d never seen them act this way, and was clueless how to deal with this new side of her family.
“You said the lock was broken?” Although he stared at her, the question was directed behind him. Unable to break Jason’s stare, Julie wasn’t sure who he spoke to until Danny answered.
“Yeah, like someone had torn it off.” The words jerked her out of her stupor.
“I told you to stop worrying about that.” Her exacerbation reached new levels as they continued to ignore her. After exchanging some silent wolf communication they left the room as a unit. Julie stared after them until she heard a car starting.
“What. The. Hell. Is going on?”
“Come. Sit.” Samantha patted the chair next to her. The desire to continue arguing was strong, but after a moment Julie relented. She wanted answers more than she wanted to argue. Like when had everyone been possessed by aliens?
“Are you okay?” Concern poured off her brother’s mate in waves. Glancing around, she saw similar worry on Laurie and Gwen’s faces.
“Besides being utterly confused and frustrated with my family’s trip to bizarro land, yes, of course I am. Now would someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s your smell,” Gwen said, leaning forward.
Okay, creepy. Julie leaned down to sniff her armpit, but Samantha stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“That’s not what she means.”
“You reek of Brendan. And even if the hickey on your neck wasn’t a glowing neon sign, we all know what you did last night.” Laurie paused, letting her words sink in. “And you know how protective those boys are about their baby sister. They’d go after him regardless. But the broken lock makes us all think Brendan may have stepped over the line. I’ve half a mind to go join them.”
Cold eyes stared back at Julie, the fierce expression one she hadn’t seen since coming home from kindergarten with bruises after being bullied.
They knew? All of it? Why hadn’t Brendan warned her? He had to have known something like this was going to happen. She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. What was she supposed to say? Hey, guys, how was your evening? I spent the night screwing Brendan in every way imaginable. That would’ve been fantastic breakfast conversation. Besides, she was twenty-three years old. She didn’t need to explain her love life to anyone.
“Damn it, I’m old enough to make my own decisions about who I sleep with. It’s none of your, or their, business.”
“The question isn’t whether you’re capable of making those decisions,” Laurie continued. “It’s whether Brendan took advantage, or forced you in any way. Well, that’s my concern. The guys would have beaten him up regardless.” The intensity of her stare belied her relaxed pose.
“Beat him up? Brendan was a complete gentleman last night. He in no way ‘forced’ anything on me.”
“A complete gentleman?” Gwen asked, smiling at her outburst. “How boring!”
A blush heated her cheeks.
“Well, ‘complete’ might have been the wrong word. Still, it’s none of their business.”
“You know, I think I believe you. Now you have to go convince the men or warn Brendan, if there’s anything left of him at this point. Those boys looked pretty determined.”
This was not good. Squatting outside Julie’s place, Brendan examined the remains of her front door. The knob had been torn right off. Whoever had done this had been not only determined but incredibly strong. More-than-human strong. Claw marks surrounded the hole where the knob had been. This had shifter written all over it. But most worrisome? There was no way he’d done this.
When Julie had said broken lock, he’d assumed he’d done something wrong. But this damage was something else entirely. This wasn’t a botched lock picking. There was no finesse in this damage–the lock was irreparable. In fact, the whole doorjamb would need replacing.
How had he not heard anything? The perpetrator couldn’t have been quiet while tearing the door apart. Then again, they hadn’t been quiet themselves. If whoever had done this had struck at the right time, it was no wonder they hadn’t heard anything. He shuddered as he thought about what might have happened had he not come over last night. The thought of Julie alone–of someone breaking into her apartment when he wasn’t around to protect her–left him cold.
Whether she liked it or not, Julie would be staying with him tonight and every night thereafter until he figured out who had done this and eliminated the threat. He refused to risk her safety.
Now the hard part, telling her without causing panic. Worse, telling her brothers.
A car barreled into the parking lot, screeching to a stop behind him. He turned to see Julie’s three brothers pile out of the car. Judging by the looks on their faces, the secret was out. And it was apparent Julie hadn’t been able to talk sense into them.
If there’d been anger on their faces, he might have tried to explain, to reason with them. But the emotions seething in their eyes went deeper than mere anger. It was all Brendan could do to brace himself before Ethan’s punch landed. The force of the impact drove him to the ground. He was grateful his jaw hadn’t flown off. This might be more difficult than he’d originally thought.
Shaking his head to clear it, Brendan looked up at the three men from the ground. He held up a hand to stay them as they advanced.
“Wait. Just wait. There’s something you need to know. It’s about Julie’s safety.” If nothing else, the word safety would stall them. They’d do anything to keep their sister safe and happy. Beating him up was about protecting her happiness. But in a competition, “safe” beat “happy” hands down.
“If you care about her safety, you have a funny way of showing it.” Jason gestured toward the broken door. A growl burst out as he saw the damage. “It’s worse than you said, Danny. I ought to beat you to a bloody pulp.” Jason took a threatening step toward him.
“Yes, I broke into her apartment last night. But–” he held up a hand as they started toward him again, “I picked the lock. I didn’t do this to her door.” He paused, letting the information sink past their rage. “Which means someone else did.”
Fear seeped into their expressions as they examined the wreckage. When he thought they wouldn’t hit him again, he rose. At least he wasn’t alone in his concern.
“You didn’t do this?” Danny asked, leaning down to examine the broken doorframe.
“Not even close.”
“But you did break in.” It wasn’t a question. They already knew the answer. Judging by the Premier’s expression, there would be hell to pay later. But right now they had bigger fish to fry. On some level, her brothers must have been aware he would never hurt Julie, and would do whatever it took to keep her safe. Otherwise, they would kick him out of the pack so fast his head would spin.