Chapter 17

 

Gage smacked the top of the case again with the handle of the screwdriver.

“Maybe you have it backwards,” Jake joked as he held the wires up out of the way.

Giving him a brief glance, he tried again. “If the crew that runs this equipment didn’t try to fix shit they break, it wouldn’t get bent out of shape.”

“Want me to read them the riot act when I take it back?”

Shaking his head, Gage sighed. “Because they’d listen this time like they did the last ten times?” He heard it finally snap into place. “No sense wasting your breath.” He checked the wires running from the side making sure none of them were pinched.

Jake straightened. “Hey, Coop’s back.”

“About fucking time,” Gage muttered under his breath.

“Kels doesn’t look so good.”

Straightening up, he hit his head on the casing as he turned around. When he saw her, he started to go toward them but Cooper gave a quick shake of his head telling him to keep his distance.

Kelsey walked slowly as Cooper guided her, an arm around her slumped shoulders. Her eyes were lost and it made his heart jerked in his chest to see her looking so defeated.

He stood beside Jake, who was also dumbstruck by her appearance, and watched as Cooper helped her into one of the pickups.

“What the hell did he tell her?” Jake spoke in a hushed tone.

Gage inhaled, trying to breath past the tightness in his chest. “From the looks of it, everything.”

“Holy hell,” Jake shook his head, “it’s heartbreaking.”

Gage could only nod as he watched Cooper hug her where she sat in the truck. He wanted it to be him to comfort her, but he respected the elder’s decision and stayed where he was.

Cooper closed the door and turned around, with a motion he called Jake over.

Jake looked at Gage.

He nodded. “Take her home, Jake.” He wiped at the grease on his hand. “Don’t leave until you make sure she’s all right.”

“Will do.” Jake went over quickly and spoke to Cooper before he climbed in the driver’s side.

Gage could see him talking to her as he turned the truck around. Jake would look after her.

Turning, he closed the access panel they’d been working on and waited for Cooper to come over.

“That was the hardest thing I have ever done,” Cooper said with his voice breaking. “If your dad was here, Alpha or not, I’d kick his ass for keeping all of that from her.” He shook his head, “If I could bring Phillip back from the dead, I’d kick his ass too.” He stopped and stood there with his hands on his hips looking at the ground.

Gage squatted down and leaned back against a tire. “I take it you told her everything?”

Cooper dropped down and sat beside him, pulling his cap off and turning it over and over in his hands. “Yeah. She knows what happened to her folks, what happens when she hits her first cycle,” he snorted, “how fucking nuts she’s making you boys…” He pulled the cap back on with jerky movements, “and she knows she’s your mate.”

Part of Gage was thrilled to hear that but the piece of him that tensed wasn’t sure if it was good. “Do I want to know any details?”

Cooper blew out a breath and stared across the yard. “Well she thought at first going away would fix everything.”

Gage was sure his heart stopped beating as he gave the older man a panicked look.

“Don’t worry; I talked her out of that.” He gave him a sympathetic look. “If it means anything, she sees the others as brothers.”

“And me?” Gage tried to swallow with a dry mouth.

Cooper shook his head. “Not you, but…” he held up a hand, “she’s not going to just accept it. I can tell you that right now. All of this is beyond her control, not a damn thing she can do about it, but you…” He pointed a finger at him, “where things are going? She believes she has a choice.”

Gage closed his eyes. “She does have a choice.” He gave Cooper a serious look. “If it kills me, I will stay away from her if that’s what she really wants.” He exhaled in a slow steady stream, trying to calm his heart rate.

“She’s not going to know what she wants for a while, Gage. Shit, she just found out about her parents, she’ll need to mourn them all over again.”

Nodding, Gage opened his mouth to speak when the truck came skidding back into the yard. Jake was out of it and slamming the door before it stopped. They heard his cursing as he stalked across the yard heading for the side gate, clothes strewn about as he went.

“Shit,” Gage muttered and went to get up.

“Let him run it off. He may not be mated to her, but he loves her in his own way.” Cooper turned and gave him a steady look. “We all do.” Getting up slowly, he brushed the dust from his jeans. “You push her and you’re going to end up with an uprising within the clan.”

Gage dropped down to sit with his knees drawn up, resting his wrists over them. He looked up at the man who kept him steady at all times. “I know, Coop. I won’t rush her, and I’ll never hurt her.”

Cooper nodded and looked down at him without speaking for several moments. “I think I’ll go join Jake for a run and keep an eye on him.”

Gage just nodded. If he didn’t have a delivery coming, he would have followed them, but with Blair and Noah on a delivery and Gary gone to pick up supplies, he would have to stay in two leg form and wait for someone to return.

He sat for quite a while after Cooper vanished between the trees. This was not the homecoming he had planned for Kelsey. Pulling his phone out, he brought up her number and started typing.

Are you okay?

Clasping the phone between his hands, he hung his wrists off his knees and looked at the trees. His cat was strangely quiet and he wasn’t sure why. It was unusual for him not to know exactly what his feline side was thinking. Shaking his head, he leaned his head back against the tire, since when was he and his cat two different entities?

His phone beeped, he almost dropped it trying to read Kelsey’s reply.

No.

Cursing, he typed. He really wanted to go to her, but he didn’t want to crowd her right now. Reading what he’d typed, he cursed again and deleted it. He retyped his message and hit send.

Call me if you need me. I’ll come home.

Holding it in two hands, he stared at the screen willing her to answer him. It was taking every bit of restraint he had to stay put and not go see for himself how she was doing. The screen lit up.

It’s okay.

What the hell did that mean? He squinted at the message. Holding it tightly, he hit the keys, his big fingers hitting the wrong letters making him even more frustrated as he had to keep correcting.

KELSEY IF YOU NEED ME PLEASE CALL

Nodding, he hit send and blew out a breath. Jerking his head around, he stared at the trees, what was taking them so long to come back?

Her reply came back, one word.

Fine.

Growling, Gage grit hit teeth and sent her one more.

Get some rest.