Echoes of Fire (The Mercury Pack #4)(84)

Draping his arm around Madisyn’s shoulders, Bracken drew her closer, able to imagine just how Kathy must have felt. She was right; he’d been lost. But without Madisyn, he’d be a whole other kind of lost. Not simply adrift, but half a person. Empty. A husk.

“It would have been nice to have had a hug from my mother. A little comfort.” Kathy swallowed. “I didn’t get that. She, um, she was all about the tough love. You may think I’m tough on Roni, and I suppose I am. But my mother was a different level of tough. Didn’t do praise or affection. Didn’t have any warmth in her. Even when my mate died, and I found myself a single mother of three, she was all, ‘These things happen, girl. Deal with the cards you’ve been dealt.’”

Madisyn silently winced in sympathy, thinking how very alone Kathy must have felt. She knew all about alone. She’d thought she preferred it. Thought she craved it, even. But the more time she’d spent with Bracken as they integrated their lives, the more she’d come to realize that she didn’t want to be alone. Didn’t prefer it. She’d simply become used to it.

“Maybe the reason she didn’t comfort you was that she needed you to find your strength, not rely on someone else’s,” Madisyn suggested, her tone soft. “She might have thought it was the only thing that would pull you through the loss of a mate.”

“If so, she’d have been right.” Kathy twisted her fingers. “It’s just that . . . I healed on my own, but it hardened me. Changed me in so many ways. And I don’t like the person I’ve become. She’s too sensitive about change. Too hard. Too slow to accept new people in her world. I didn’t want that for you, Bracken. And I was set on bringing the old you back the way I wished someone had brought the old me back after my mate died.”

Bracken sighed. Okay, yeah, he could understand why she’d acted so stupidly. Maybe if he hadn’t been mated himself, he wouldn’t have properly gotten it. Despite understanding, he didn’t find it an excuse for what she did. But by the look on her face, neither did she. “You’re not too hard, Kathy. I’ve seen you with the pups. There’s a lot more warmth in you than you seem to think.”

“Maybe,” said Kathy, but she’d clearly said it just to humor him. “Anyway, I’m . . . I’m really sorry for what I did. Madisyn fed me a few home truths, and I realized she was right. I treated you with kid gloves, Bracken, just as I did Roni after her attack. I should have learned from my mistake with her that it wasn’t helping you, I just . . . I wanted you to have what I didn’t. Support. Someone to lean on. But everything just went wrong and . . . Again, I’m sorry. To both of you.”

Accepting the earnest apology with a nod, Bracken said, “As long as you never try to come between me and my mate again, we don’t have a problem.”

“You have my solemn promise never to do so,” Kathy swore, her face sober.

Madisyn leaned her head on his shoulder. “As long as you cease trying to smother and fix him, you and I will be fine.”

“No more smothering and fixing,” Kathy agreed.

Eli popped his head out of the door. “You guys done talking? Some of us are starving in here.”

Rolling her eyes, Kathy pushed off the swing. “You don’t know what starving really is, Elijah Axton, so stop acting like you’re wasting away. Honestly, you possess zero patience.”

“Only when I’m hungry,” Eli insisted as she ushered him inside, muttering about him being too much like his father for his own good.

Madisyn looked up at Bracken. “Feel better now that that’s all resolved?”

“Yeah, I do. What she did is still fucked up, but I can see why she did it. Not saying I forgive her. I don’t. Can’t. But I can move past it. You?”

“As I just told her, as long as she stops with the smothering, she and I will be fine.”

“Good.” Bracken gave her a quick kiss. “Let’s eat.” Taking possession of his mate’s hand, he led her into the lodge. Everyone sat at the long kitchen table, chatting among themselves. When they spotted Madisyn, they barely held back from descending on her in concern. A warning look from him kept them in their seats. “She’s fine, as you can all see. No fussing or we’re leaving.”

Mouth twitching, Madisyn took the empty seat that Harley patted. Admiring the spread of various foods, she chewed on her lip, debating what to try first. So it took a few seconds to realize that Bracken was piling food on her plate for her.

“I didn’t get a chance before,” began Harley, “so let me just say it now: thanks for not being a bitch to my cousins at the barbecue.”

“They didn’t do anything wrong,” said Madisyn. “And it was kind of fun to watch Jazz walk in heels. I’m glad I didn’t miss it.”

Harley snickered. “Piper dared her to wear them. Jazz can never resist a dare.”

“I know someone just like that,” said Bracken.

Madisyn tossed him a dark scowl, but he just smiled.

“When are you having your mating ceremony?” asked little Cassidy, licking red sauce from her finger.

Grabbing the carafe of water, Madisyn said, “We haven’t really discussed it yet, sweetie.”

“Can we have a magician?” asked Willow. “You and Bracken don’t have to watch the show if you don’t like magic. We could have the show when you two go home to do . . . What do you call it, Daddy? ‘Bushwhacking’?”