Page 51 of Rough

“You wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Because I could be as dickish as my brother, I nudged James. He also had to own up to his shit. “You tell him what happened.”

The teen swallowed, his gaze not reaching Rob’s face. “I was out runnin’,” he said.

“Elaborate,” Rob ordered.

“I was visiting my girlfriend, so I ran down the mountain in wolf form because, well… we were sneaking out together. I cut through Shefield’s property on my way home. Jett Markle shot me.”

“What?” Rob roared, turning his furious gaze to me.

I nodded my confirmation. “He fell into Shefield’s swimming hole. Audrey had to resuscitate him.”

Rob’s eyes narrowed. His neck grew red, and his fingers clenched into fists. “What about Markle?” he gritted, clearly not concerned about a gunshot wound.

“He saw the shot hit its mark, then the fall from the top. Nothing else,” I answered. “As Audrey tended to James, I found Markle and read him the riot act. Told him he shot my dog, and he’d better keep away from me and our property, or I’d shove that gun up his nose and fire.”

“What were you doing at the pool?”

“I was with Audrey, doing what you asked.” I threw that in his face, since he did tell me to stick close to her. What I needed to do was come clean with Rob about my relationship with her. That I wanted to mate her and make her mine. That I’d had the urge to mark her.

He’d have to listen to that. Our wolf urges didn’t lie, and they didn’t lead us wrong. Even if it was against pack rules.

I would tell him later, but not in front of the kid.

Rob took a deep breath, and I knew he could smell her on me. Knew exactly what we’d been doing.

“So she saw,” he said grimly.

I nodded. “She saw, and our secret is safe with her. Doctor-patient confidentiality.”

“That’s going to keep her from talking? This isn’t a mental health visit to a clinic. She just found out we’re shifters.”

James bobbed his head in agreement. “She promised us, Alpha.”

Rob shook his head and stared through the windshield at Audrey, who looked back at him with round eyes. I wanted to tell him to fuck off because she was clearly wary, even scared of him. I didn’t like anyone fucking with my mate, even the alpha.

But because hewasthe alpha, I stayed silent. I’d ensure she was okay once I got back to the truck.

He lowered his voice even though she was human and wouldn’t hear. “I know I told you to stay on her after the bull riding accident to make sure she didn’t know what you were, but Idid not meanfuck her until she falls for you. What happens when you move on to your next conquest? You think she’ll still keep our secret then? No. This is a problem, Boyd. And so is Jett Markle.” He turned to James, “You are in some serious shit with me, James.”

The teen dropped his head to the side to bare his throat and signal submission. “Yes, Alpha. But please, could you call my sister, Karen, instead of my parents? They will outright kill me.”

Rob frowned, then he pulled out his phone and handed it to James. “You call her. I’ll need a sit-down with both of you about this.” He turned to me. “Get Audrey home.”

It was all I could do not to growl back at Rob. I wasn’t going to fucking move onto another conquest, and his saying that pissed me off. But then he always thought I was the fuck-up, didn’t he?

Because I was.

Even after baring my secrets to Audrey, the truth remained. I’d been the reason our parents died. Now I was part of the reason the pack was at risk. It might have been James prowling after his girlfriend that Markle had seen, but now the bastard had a hard-on for me. I’d taken his girl at the bar the other night. I’d punched him in the face after he supposedly killed my dog. I was getting in his way every chance I got, and that made things worse with him, not better.

Rob would have done the exact same thing, protected a woman from an asshole and saved one of our pack members. But pointing that out wouldn’t change anything.

Fucking hell.

I stalked to the truck without a word, not trusting myself not to be disrespectful with him, which would be particularly bad in front of a young pack member.

Audrey jumped when I slammed the door too hard, and I automatically reached for her hand. “Sorry. Fuck!”