Page 70 of Brazen

Tired of being fucked with, tired that I was the one in the wrong, I punched him.

His head rocked back, and he put his fingers to his mouth.

“Sam, fuck–” Boyd said. He moved closer, but didn’t get within punching range.

“Apologize to your alpha,” Clint said.

I shook my head. “No. Fuck no.”

“Sam,” Johnny said, as if he might be able to calm me.

Rob hadn’t even blinked through all this, and that only made me more furious. Pushed me over the edge that I’d been teetering on for two days.

I slashed my hand through the air. “Enough. When my father died, no one let me step up. I was patted on the head and told I was a good kid. That I wasn’t responsible enough to take care of them. You know what I had to do to prove I could? I had to fucking leave. Join the rodeo. Take care of my mother and sisters from the circuit because no one let me take care of them here. Even after all that, I came back, and no one trusted me enough that all I had left to do was go out and be the man everyone assumed I was.

“Now… now, I’ve got a mate and a pup, and I can’t even take care of them the way I see fit. When will I be trusted to take care of my family? My mate? My pup? What the fuck do I have to do to prove that I can be trusted? Be worthy?”

No one said anything. Especially Rob.

I went over to him. Got close. Real close. Our noses were only an inch or two apart. I felt his alpha energy, and my wolf felt like backing down, but we couldn’t. Not this time.

“Whoa, Sam. Step back.” Boyd’s voice was low.

Rob raised a hand. “No. Let him speak his mind.”

I did. I fucking did.

“I was doing it all, Alpha,” I growled. “The second I caught her scent, I did everything a mate should do. Everything a father should do for his pup. Except you didn’t trust me to handle my own mate. I followed your orders. This is your fault!” I lost the anger that had carried me this far. “Put me down. Banish me.”

I dropped my head. Done. Ruined.

A hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me away from Rob. Johnny. Johnny was pushing me around Rob and toward the door. Colton opened it for him, and we went outside into the frosty air.

“Shift, Sam. Shift and run,” Johnny said. “I’ll go with you.”

There was nothing left to do. Nothing left to say. To feel. For the first time in two days, I let my wolf out.

I shifted.

I ran.

But I couldn’t escape the loss.

29

CLIO

* * *

“Do not climb that stack of tires,” I warned JT. He was running off his after school energy by zooming around the garage.

“I won’t get on the rafters,” JT conceded.

“You’d better not.”

Because Sam isn’t around to get you down when you get yourself stuck.

It had been four days since we broke up, and I was barely keeping my shit together. But being a mom, I didn’t get to self-indulge in pity parties.