Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(57)
“Who cares? WHO CARES? Two of our brothers,” he spat the word and aimed a deadly glare at the twins before continuing, “slept with Lucie! They didn’t even tell us. What kind of family would do that?” Hudson’s voice was nearing a yell on the last of his rant.
“First of all, I don't believe you are entitled to that kind of knowledge, Hudson. They, nor Lucie, answer to you, and being angry because they didn't jump to inform you of what transpired is just fucking petty.” Cam’s voice had taken on a harsh quality. He stood in a wide stance, arms crossed over his chest as he reprimanded Hudson. Turning to Logan and Landon, he asked, “when?”
He and Nik didn't seem bothered by the revelation, and when I really thought about it, I wasn’t either. I couldn’t say that I was pleased to learn about it, especially like this, but my initial surprise gave way to acceptance. You can’t have her anyway, I reminded myself. Guilt ate at me with that thought. Khloe may not be the woman I planned on staying with forever, but it was still wrong of me to contemplate my emotions for another woman while we were in a relationship.
“Movie night,” Logan said. Almost a month ago, my chest ached to know Lucie could be with them and not me. Hudson turned away from us and began pacing, roughly pushing his fingers through his hair.
“A month ago? You fucked her a month ago? A day after we agreed to make sure she was safe and to not push her and then you two fucking assholes go and do that? How could you take advantage of her like that?” Hudson roared at the twins. His eyes had taken on an ethereal glow, and I could feel his power radiating from him. For anyone else that wouldn't be much of a problem, but for supes that can influence emotions like he can, the excess power leaking into the area will only add fuel to the fire. Here we go…
Lucienne
Cold seeped through my jacket and seemed to leech me of all warmth. Darkness surrounded me until I felt like I’d never make it out. I couldn’t shake the sensation of him, his hands around my neck, the pain radiating through my entire body. Everything hurt, and it just wouldn’t stop. I tried to remember the twins advice on grounding myself when in the midst of a panic attack. Feeling around, I realized I must have been on the floor in the woods. Twigs, grass, and dirt caked my hands. I took deep breaths, trying to utilize the senses available to me. Pine filled my nose, the clean and bright scent of the outdoors surrounded me.
I was leaning against a tree when my vision finally came back, his voice and the feeling of him faded into the night. There was only silence for a moment before I heard footsteps in the distance. I tried to push off of the tree and right myself, but stumbled to the side with stars in my eyes. Finally, with the lightheadedness under control, I pushed to my feet right in time for the Bitch Crew to come through the trees.
“Hey, Lucie,” Claire sneered, “I just wanted to see if you were alright. You ran away pretty quickly. Are you worried about Noah finding out that you’ve slept with Logan and Landon?” I felt a knife straight to my gut. If he found me, he would kill me. I could barely think. I tried pushing passed them, but they closed ranks. “I’m sure Declan would be more than willing to help his good friend out, Noah should know if his girlfriend is off being a whore behind his back.” They don’t understand, they think this is just some petty relationship drama. He can’t find me.
“What do you want from me?” My voice cracked against the quiet of the forest.
“Stay away from them. You stay away from them after tonight, and Noah won’t have to find out,” I nodded. I loved my guys, but I couldn't risk it. Never again. All I could focus on was breathing. Their shoes filled my vision. Apparently, I had started staring at the ground. “Besides,” Claire chuckled, “pretty sure their family is fucked now, all because of you.” Her voice was condescendingly sweet. My head snapped up to look at her.
“What the fuck did you do?” I demanded. People like this really exist? These conniving, manipulating, backstabbing...
“Oh, I just let Hudson know, what you and those twins do in your free time,” Brittney’s soprano voice mimicking Claire’s sickeningly sweet tone. My stomach dropped, but before I could run to make sure the guys hadn't destroyed themselves over something so trivial, a thought occurred to me.
“So basically what you’re saying is, Hudson is more concerned with my sex life than he is with you?” My voice was low, menace and anger at the situation laced every word. I couldn’t help the satisfaction I felt at having trumped the plastic bitch. At Brittney’s astonished expression, I pushed through Claire and her to run down the path towards the house.
As I neared, shouting and the distinct chant of ‘fight’ could be heard. Clearing the trees, I saw a circle of people surrounding an area of the backyard. A few choice words were thrown my way as I elbowed through the crowd to find my guys in the center. Dante was trying to hold back a seething Hudson while Cam and Nik held back equally pissed off twins.
“Fuck you! How could you think we would ever take advantage of someone like that? Especially her! We’re basically your brothers, you should know us better than that! But no, you’re too busy fucking ignoring your feelings and burying your head between that bitch’s legs to see how you feel about her!” Landon screamed at Hudson.
“Stop! Just stop it!” I shouted from the edge of the crowd. They continued to strain against the arms holding them. “What the fuck are all of you fighting about? You’re better than this! You’re a family! Pull your heads out of your fucking asses and see what this is doing to you!” Stepping between Hudson and the twins, I turned in a small circle to yell at all of them. Varying expressions of surprise, relief, and anger met me when they realized I was the one screaming at them.