Without Regret (Pyte/Sentinel #2)(108)

While the last one was scurrying away Chris was handing the money over to him and taking his hand and leading him out of the alleyway. It embarrassed him to have to explain that his mother had dropped him off so that she could go hit the bar, but Chris simply shrugged it off as he took the list from him and spent the next forty minutes helping him find everything in the overcrowded store.

When they were done he wasn’t too surprised to discover that Candy hadn’t waited around for him. It was snowing, the sidewalks were covered in rough ice and he dreaded trying to walk the two miles home while trying to figure out how to carry four bags of groceries.

He would have called his sister and grandmother, but he knew they were busy cooking and cleaning and Ephraim had been called out of town so he knew he didn’t have a choice.

He didn’t get far before Chris had him by the arm and was dragging him towards the bar. At first he was afraid that Chris was going to confront Candy and get him into trouble for bothering her, but instead Chris brought him over to the cabs that hung out in front of the bar. When the man tried to tell Chris that he was off duty, Chris told him that it was too f**king bad because he was taking Joshua home.

It shocked him when the man actually backed down from a kid, but then again Chris had been large even then. He placed the bags in the trunk and helped buckle Joshua in. When he tried to tell Chris that he didn’t have any money, Chris waved off his concern and dug into his own pockets and pulled out every cent that he had and gave it to the man.

Chris had even gone with him to make sure the driver didn’t pull any crap and brought him straight home.

When they got to the house, Chris grabbed the bags and walked him to the door. As soon as the last bag was on the porch Chris butted fists with Josh and left, walking away without another word.

His brother was always doing stuff like that, putting everyone in the family before himself. Hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time his brother did something for himself or anything that he enjoyed. He was always living for the job or them.

What he wouldn’t give to have his easy going smartass brother back, even for a minute, he thought as his eyes landed on Isabella. He watched his brother’s eyes flicker open and search around almost frantically until they landed on her. His expression softened and before Joshua could stop him, he reached out ignoring the agonizing pain that he must be in as his ribs fused back together and grabbed Isabella from their father’s arms and pulled her tight against him, resting his head on her shoulder before he once passed out once again.

“What do you think?” he asked his father as he packed up his bag.

Ephraim sighed long and heavily. “I think it’s going to be a bitch to carry them out of here like that.”

Chapter 38

Boston, MA

Kale threw back his head and inhaled deeply.

She was close, very close. He stepped back into step with the early morning crowd as they passed the row of modest brownstones. Not one of them had a clue that behind those walls housed at least a hundred Sentinels and several f**king traitors that threw over their packs and nests to serve the f**king Sentinels.

That would never be him. He would never be anyone’s lapdog, but they could never seem to get it through their thick skulls. It seemed like every other decade they were hunting him down to beg him to reconsider working with them and each and every time he turned them down flat.

He had his own agenda and goals to focus on. He didn’t need to add the Sentinel’s “Save the humans” bullshit onto his list. The only thing that mattered to him was reaching his goal and disappearing away from all of this bullshit. He wanted to live out the rest of his immortal life relaxing in a small cabin on a large piece of land away from all the human bullshit. After this job, he would be so much closer to that goal and he wouldn’t let anyone stand in his way.

His eyes shifted to the large group of brownstones that lined the street and concealed the huge compound that lay behind those bricks. There was just one more thing he had to do before he took his next job and if he did it right he wouldn’t have to worry about a really pissed off Pyte coming after him for eternity.

********

“Try not to move,” Joshua said, gently pushing him back down onto his back on what felt like a pile of blankets.

“Where the hell are we?” he asked, his throat feeling raw as he tried to shove away the panic that was threatening to take over. Where the hell was his mate and what the hell had happened? He remembered his little Munchkin holding him in her arms and feeling afraid that he wouldn’t be able to take care of her, but everything after that was kind of fuzzy.

“In a van,” Joshua said, chuckling.

He sent his brother a glare for stating the obvious. “I meant, where are we going?”

“Well, you didn’t ask that,” Joshua pointed out, as he shifted out of Chris’ view and revealed his little Munchkin curled up on a makeshift pad, all tucked in and looking utterly beautiful.

He ignored the ache in his side and shoved his blankets away and moved onto the blanket pallet right behind her and curled up around her body. All the tension in his body seeped out of him as he released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. She was fine. She was in his arms, snoring softly as she cuddled back against him. Everything was fine.

It took everything he had not to drop his hand to her stomach and make sure their baby was okay. Not their baby, he reminded himself. It was a mistake, a mistake they’d soon correct, he reminded himself, shoving away the pain that that thought created. He couldn’t allow himself to soften any more.