Chapter Twenty-Four: Briar

“He has been really kind to me. I probably seem ungrateful. It’s just I have all these feelings that are so confusing and jumbled. I’m starting to think that I just need to get out of here as soon as possible. I need to get as far away from him as I can before I humiliate myself again.” Briar couldn’t quite believe that she’d blurted out all that she had to these two perfect strangers. When the other two women had begun questioning her about how she was doing as they unpacked the clothing they’d brought, she had discovered that apparently after a lifetime of bottling up her feelings she had reached her limit.

Brielle had picked out the outfit that Briar was wearing, dressing her as if she were about to go out for a night on the town in LA, rather than dressing her in preparation for the frigid Alaskan wilderness, which Briar was well aware she just might have to flee into, if things went sideways. Jeans and boots, with a warm shirt, or even tennis shoes would have been more sensible than what she was wearing. But that was not what Brielle had in mind and Oaklyn was fully on board with whatever the dark haired beauty was thinking.

Brielle, who could have passed for Briar’s older sister if Briar hadn’t been half starved, had chosen a little black dress that hugged Briar’s curves and left very little to the imagination. Oaklyn had pulled out some strappy black heels that Briar was surprised actually fit, and then Oaklyn had fussed with her hair, piling it on top of her head in a messy updo. After that Brielle had, for some reason, decided Briar needed to have her makeup done, complete with dramatic eyes, and shimmering pale pink lips.

“Aren’t I just going out there for an exam to make sure I’m alright?” Briar finally asked with a sigh when they’d finished.

“Do you want to catch Torin’s eye? I know you said all that about being afraid, but will you regret it if you just walk away? Because the tension between the two of you, no matter what either one of you says, is insane. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Oaklyn was the one who spoke, while Brielle tilted her head to one side, carefully watching Briar’s reaction.

“I’ve done nothing but make a fool of myself trying to get him to think of me as anything other than a problem. I don’t know what you’re seeing but he’s not interested. I’ve thrown myself at him repeatedly and he keeps brushing me off like I’m some annoying fly. What you’re probably feeling out there is his impatience to have me gone.” Briar had been standing up but now she sank back down on the bed, her shoulders slouching forward in defeat.

“There’s just no way,” Oaklyn shook her head, staring at Briar’s profile. “I saw how he was staring at you. And the way he looked at Ted for even being in the same room as you when you were wearing a towel. I thought he might rip his head off. And Ted’s his best friend. He’s a doctor, for Goddess’ sake.”

Briar shook her head, but she didn’t argue. It was pointless. The woman obviously had ideas in her heads and she wasn’t going to convince Oaklyn otherwise.

“Now let’s get you out there. I can totally imagine that Torin thinks he’s doing the noble thing by keeping his hands off you. But you’re exactly what he needs.” Oaklyn’s face was set in a look of satisfied determination as she looked over Briar’s new outfit.

“He hasn’t exactly kept his hands off me. More like he’s kept my hands off him. Mostly.” Briar muttered the words in such a low voice that the other two women wouldn’t have heard them if they weren’t shifters.

“Girl, you need to understand. Torin isn’t like me.” Oaklyn had taken Briar’s hand and sat down next to her on the bed. “When Tony died I was out of my mind with grief. I barely survived. I didn’t get out of bed for a month and then after that I couldn’t sleep for a week.”

“And then she slept her way through just about every unpaired shifter in The Last Frontier.” Brielle grinned as she dodged the pillow that Oaklyn reached over and threw at her friend.

“I did what I had to do to survive losing my mate. Different people react in different ways. You haven’t been rejected yet, formally, have you?” Briar shook her head in response. “Well, you’re going to do whatever you have to do to survive too. And I have a feeling that whatever it is that the Goddess has in mind to help heal you, and to heal that great lump of a man who has been mourning for far too long, has to do with the two of you coming together.”

“Because Torin didn’t do what I did. As far as I know, and I think I know pretty well because Ted is his best friend, he’s been alone since Aria was murdered. And that was years ago now.”

“What happened to her?” The words slipped from between Briar’s lips almost before she could stop them. Part of her thought that it was none of her business, but another part of her was desperate to know everything she could about the history of the man who had been taking care of her.

“I can tell her, Oaklyn. I know the story. I’ve heard it told enough times and you shouldn’t have to retell it. I know you were her friend too.” Brielle settled on the other side of the bed, next to Briar, lightly picking up the younger She-Wolf’s hand and intertwining their fingers before she spoke again. “ Why don’t you go out with Ted and Briar and I will come out as soon as we’re done talking. I think she deserves to know what she’s up against if she decides to stay here with Torin. Don’t you?” Brielle raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and Oaklyn sighed before pushing herself up to her feet.

“I know I haven’t known you long, Briar, but I’m a good judge of character and I can already tell that you’re good for him. He needs someone like you in his life. Anyways. I’ll let you two talk.” She gave Briar one last smile that carried a hint of sadness that she didn’t quite manage to hide before she slipped through the door, closing it behind her.

Before Briar had even turned back to face Brielle, the other She-Wolf had begun to launch into the story. “If you can land Torin, then you are a better woman than the dozens who’ve set their eyes on him and failed. I seriously hope that you do it, hermana. Because it would mean you were safe and coming from a pack very much like the one you’re from, I know what you’re up against and I get what that means. Hell to get away from the sort of thing that you’re going through right now, I ran the day I turned eighteen.”

“You didn’t want a mate?” Briar’s eyes were wide at every piece of information that Brielle was sharing. The other girl was only a few years older than she was, but she seemed to have so much more life experience.

“Hell no. A man who would rule over me, and who had some magical link that would instantly make me fall head over heels in love with him, no matter what he was like? That sounded like the worst thing that could possibly happen to me. What if he was a complete and total asshole? I never understood why anyone would want that. But it seems most She-Wolves do.”

“I’ve been trying to convince my sister and her two best friends to come stay with me for a year when they graduate next year. That’s why I got a big place, with the extra room, but I’m not sure she’ll actually do it. Brooke’s a little boy crazy and I’m afraid she’ll be swept up in the idea of finding her mate.” Brielle sighed and tossed her long straight hair over her shoulder.

“Enough about me though. I promised to tell you about Torin and his mate and I’m going to. But I have to tell you, it isn’t a pretty story. The first time I heard it was when the story was shared with my pack because they were asking for warriors in case the Kodiaks came at your pack with numbers in retaliation.”

At Brielle’s words Briar froze, her fingers gripping the edge of the bed.

“You’re so pale.” Brielle barely whispered the words. “I’m sorry Honey, I really figured you had to know the story at least, even if you hadn’t put together who she was. Everyone in my pack knew it. Even the pups.”

Briar swallowed.

Her chest felt tight as if she couldn’t get enough air in, but she needed to know. She had a horrible crushing fear, but she was still praying that she was wrong.

“Just tell me.” She managed to get the words out and then closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe. She had gotten through worse over the course of the last few days. She could survive a panic attack.

“Torin and Aria were very adventurous when she was alive, or at least, that’s what Oaklyn says. Aria even more so than Torin is what she’s told me. They went backpacking and exploring different parts of the state almost every weekend that Torin didn’t have to work. Although back then he was much more active as the leader of his kind. He’s really stepped back since Aria was murdered.”

“On this particular backpacking trip they were north and west of your pack. They should have been clear of any trouble. But your pack had a hunting party out in the same area. They came upon Aria when she was out for a run, while Torin was still asleep back at their camp.” Brielle’s hands were shaking and a single tear streaked down her cheek as she paused, taking both of Briar’s hands between her own before continuing the story.

“I’m not really clear on what happened next. You and I both know that in either human or bear form they shouldn’t have touched her. Humans and shifters are off limits. Whatever happened out there was fucked. But I do know that Ava shifted at some point before she died and tried to fight them off. It didn’t take Torin long to get to them, but by the time that he arrived he was too late. The wounds she’d sustained were fatal.”

“Torin lost his mind. There were a dozen warriors. And all of them had survived taking on Aria. They weren’t too much the worse for wear. From what I heard he completely gave himself over to his Kodiak. He killed a half dozen of them including the Alpha. Your Alpha.”

At that Briar’s eyes grew wide, her teeth biting into her lower lip so hard that she tasted blood as she shook her head.

“That’s how Alpha Mason died?” Briar’s voice had become very small.

“I really thought you knew. I’m sorry. I really am.”

“They just said it was an accident. A hunting accident. They told us that they’d all died in an accident. Someone said something about a battle or fight, but then Beta Poe told him to shut it.” For a moment a pained expression crossed Briar’s face but almost immediately she locked it down, and when Brielle met her eyes again they seemed entirely devoid of any emotion at all.

“Brielle?” When Briar spoke again, a full moment later, her voice was clearer and stronger than it had been since the two other women had arrived. “I think I need to take you up on your offer. I know Oaklyn has high hopes for Torin and I, but I can’t stay here. I need a fresh start and I can’t do that so close to my pack. I’m sure you understand how that is?”

Brielle stared at the younger She-Wolf for a long moment before nodding slowly. “I know how it can be.”

“Thank you. Can you help me change into something a little more sensible for getting the heck out of here? I don’t think I need to show Torin what he isn’t going to be missing. He’s already seen just about every inch of me and he’s made it clear that I’m not what he wants. I just want to get bundled up so we can get out of here as soon as possible and I can get out of his hair.”