Chapter Twenty-Five: Torin

Oaklyn was practically bouncing when she walked out of Briar’s bedroom, and she immediately began to tell both men, who were both enjoying cold beers together in the kitchen, how adorable Briar looked, all dressed up with her hair and makeup done for dinner. Torin’s heart ached oddly in his chest at her description and he couldn’t help but picture Briar as she’d looked wearing his oversized shirt. When Briar and Brielle finally emerged a half hour later Oaklyn’s eyebrows drew together in a line and she moved across the room so fast that Torin quickly looked around to make sure the house wasn’t being attacked.

“Where’s the dress?” He heard Oaklyn hiss, her eyes fixed on Brielle who immediately shook her head in response.

“She didn’t want to wear it.” Brielle’s voice was so low that even with his extraordinarily good hearing, Torin could only just make out what she had said. Oaklyn frowned at the response before pasting a smile on her face and leading the trio of women back towards the kitchen.

Torin wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. The outfit that Briar was wearing looked absolutely perfect on her. She was wearing dark blue jeans with an oversized white cable knit sweater that practically swallowed her whole. On her feet she had soft suede boots that went almost all the way up to her knees and her hair was piled atop her head in a messy updo, while a touch of makeup highlighted her already gorgeous features.

Torin wasn’t sure why he felt like someone had punched him in the stomach, but he did. This was the first time that the little She-Wolf walked into the room, not wearing something that belonged to him, and he felt the loss keenly, even if he didn’t want to admit it to himself. He knew he should feel relieved. This was Briar getting one step closer to escaping her past and finding freedom. But that wasn’t how it felt at all when he looked at her.

“That outfit suits you, Briar.” Oaklyn was the one who said the words as she came back to stand beside Ted, her lips curving up into a smile. “Although I stand by my earlier statement that you looked stunning in that dress too, although this is much more practical.”

“It is. And thank you all, for everything you’ve done for me. Getting these clothes put together, Oaklyn and Brielle. Coming out here to make sure I’m healthy, Doctor. And to you, for saving my life, Torin, it’s more than I could even think of being able to repay, so I want you to know how grateful I am to each of you. Especially since none of you knew me before this week.” Briar’s head dipped at the end of the sentence, but Torin was certain he saw sadness cloud her eyes as she spoke, and while he couldn’t be sure, it seemed different from the sadness that he’d seen wash across her face over the course of the past few days.

“I don’t want to keep putting you out. This is my fight. It’s time that I moved on.”

“You’re not putting anyone out, Wolfling.” Torin’s voice sounded harsher than he meant it to, but her words ignited something in his chest he hadn’t known he was still capable of feeling. Maybe he had been trying to think of her as a simple obligation, especially as he tried to keep her at arms length, but he’d be damned if he let her think of herself the same way.

“I knew you’d say that. But I’ve already brought trouble from my pack to your door. I don’t want to do that again. And going south with Brielle is a good chance for me. Leaving Alaska will hopefully loosen the mate bond even further. Maybe it will dull the pain more because of the physical distance between my mate and I. Do you think that’s possible, Doctor?”

“Ted. You can call me Ted, Briar. We’re all friends here. And I really don’t know, because so little is known about how the mate bond works when it’s abused in this way. But I hope that it does work that way for you.”

“Thank you.” Briar was ringing her hands together nervously, as she shifted from foot to foot.

“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like. I hope you know that, Briar.” She didn’t lift her eyes to look at his face as she nodded and whispered her thanks, and for a brief moment it almost looked as if she was going to cry.

“Now I didn’t come all this way just to talk. Let’s get you checked out so I can give you a clean bill of health. I’m sure Torin has a dinner to prepare with all these guests here, needing to be fed.” Ted’s comment lightened the tense mood that had begun to settle over the room and Briar nodded, glad to escape from the emotions that she could feel swirling around her that seemed to have begun the moment that she announced that she would be leaving.

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Brielle had been perched on a stool at the counter, typing away on her phone, for the past twenty minutes while Briar had been back in her bedroom with Ted, with Oaklyn keeping her company during her exam.

“Oh, looks like we won’t need to spend the night at all.” The girl seemed to be speaking more to herself than him, but she’d said the words out loud and Torin wanted to know what the Hell she thought she was talking about. Ted had made it clear that he and Oaklyn planned on staying for several days. While he had been telling himself he was ready to see his little Wolfling leave, he wasn’t so blind to what he was feeling to think that he was ready to see her leave that very night.

“What do you mean?” He practically growled the words, although he hadn’t meant to. Brielle had the nerve to smirk when she looked up at him before shaking her head and looking back down at her phone again.

“You really should shit or get off the pot, you know that Torin? If you asked her to stay, you know she would. You realize that, don’t you?” The beautiful She-Wolf put down her phone and crossed her arms, her eyebrows raised as she met his eyes, obviously expecting him to respond.

“I- I-” the words that had left her mouth weren’t what he had expected at all when he’d asked her if she meant that she and Briar were leaving and it took him a moment to collect his fragmented thoughts in response to what she had just said. “I can’t. I’m not right for her. I couldn’t even keep Aria safe. How the fuck can I keep anyone else safe.”

Brielle rolled her eyes and shook her head. “What happened with Aria was a tragedy. It was evil men doing evil deeds. It wasn’t your fault. And the chances of that happening again? You can’t stop living your life, Torin, just because something horrible happened in the past. And she’s been through something horrible too. Maybe you two can start again, together.” “

“No. I can’t. I don’t deserve her.”

“You’d rather she come with me then? Down south? Really Torin? To make a life among humans?”

“Yes. That’s what’s best for her, isn’t it? She’ll be safer there, with you then she’ll be here, with me.” The words cut deeper and deeper with each one that he spoke but it didn’t stop him from saying them.

“That’s bullshit and we both know it. But I’m not going to leave her here to wait around until you pull your head out of your ass and realize what you could have.” Brielle picked her phone back up and shook her head. “This is why I don’t fuck around with this love shit. Even this second chance bullshit is fickle as Hell.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Torin slammed his hand down onto the table, but Brielle didn’t even flinch.

“I think you know what it means. And if you don’t then you have that thing shoved a good bit further up there than even I’d suspected. Rian’s going to be here with the helo tonight. She needs to be ready.”

“What if Ted says she isn’t?” Torin’s shoulders slumped and he leaned forward against the counter, the fire that had appeared for a few moments when he’d argued with her seeming to have been extinguished as rapidly as it had flared.

“She can get better medical care where she’s going than she can get out here. I know Ted’s a good doctor and all, but as soon as I get her home we’ll have world class hospitals. And if I can get her hooked up with a job at my work she’ll have healthcare.”

“What is it you do again?” Torin ran a hand over his face as Brielle slipped off her seat and walked lightly over to the refrigerator, retrieving another of the beers he’d been drinking earlier with Ted. She popped the top off easily before sliding it across the table where it stopped in front of him.

“It depends on the week. I do whatever needs to be done for the large international company that I work for. Lately I’ve been a concierge, making sure everyone is comfortable and where they need to be at our new Los Angeles location.”

Torin nodded, his eyes going back towards the door where he knew eventually Briar would reemerge.

“You know, you still have time to change your mind.” Brielle’s gaze followed his and she gave him a hopeful smile. “She’s a really good girl.”

“No. I don’t. She goes with you.” And with that he stood and pushed away from the table, walking upstairs to his bedroom without looking back even once, even when he heard Briar’s bedroom door beginning to open.