Ensnared (Brutes of Bristlebrook, #1)(30)

“I don’t want a mouse for a pet!” he bursts out, eyes flashing with temper. “God damn it, I want—”

Dom’s mouth snaps shut, and my lips twist bitterly, choosing to ignore that he’s insulted Eden twice now.

I won’t let it slide a third.

“She’s gone, Dom.”

He shakes his head sharply, like that wasn’t where he was going, even though we both know it was.

“You just want her because she’s here,” he says softly. “It’s not a good enough reason. Not for this, not for us.”

Us. Yeah, right. Us has been on the rocks for a long time.

For a way longer damn time than that, though, Dom was my brother. In greens and out. We met in military school and got tight fast. We fumbled through learning how to top with some seriously patient subs together. We got our first girlfriend together. Got dumped by that same girlfriend, also together. We graduated together, did our Ranger training together. Even when I did my surgical training and he started working his way up the ranks, we stayed partners. And as soon as I graduated, we pulled every string we had to make sure we were in the same squad.

I always thought it’d be him and me, preferably with some pretty subbie between us, right up until we got dusted. That had always been The Plan.

Then Heather happened, and suddenly Dom was telling me good and clear that I didn’t feature in his new idea of Happy Ever After. That it wasn’t going to be me and him and our girl—it was just him and his girl, and maybe Beau as a little side piece whenever Heather was feeling adventurous. Like I was an extra man-shaped dildo they could pull out when I served a purpose. He loved her more than me, and so fifteen years of friendship and The Plan got nuked with one brutal conversation.

When Heather blindsided all of us and ran off with Thomas instead, I was there with him, despite it all. But this resentment won’t let me alone; I can’t push it far enough down this time. At the same time, I haven’t been able to bring it up, not when our friendship is this weak. It’s like it’s lacking its old foundation—a mis-healed bone that’s still too tender to take our full weight.

Since Heather left, we’ve been gentle with it, not pushing it too hard.

But it has to end.

Eden could be our last chance at happiness together. This time, I know I’ve got to tell it to him straight—he’s right on the

brink of fucking this up for the both of us.

“That ain’t it, Dom. It’s not just because she’s here. She’s more than just convenient; I want to know her better. And you don’t get to make the decision that I don’t, just because you’re scared I’ll choose her over you, the way you chose Heather over me.”

He stiffens. “I didn’t—”

“Don’t. Don’t lie to me,” I warn, chest tight.

Jasper’s been trying to get me to talk to Dom about this for years, but I haven’t been able to find the words.

“Dom—”

“For fuck’s sake, would you just—”

A bullet explodes into the tree beside my head. Chips of bark spray us both as Dom yanks me down under him, pulling us both behind a tree. He scans my face as bullets pepper the trees around us with brutal, bursting thuds, and I pull back to look him over, breathing easier when I don’t spot any blood.

“I’m okay,” I assure him quickly.

Damn it, my gun is under me. Why the hell did I sling it?

He squeezes my arm, then releases me to peer around the trunk. “Firing from seven and ten. Semi-auto. You good to split?”

Assaults through heavy thickets are tough. Being surprised by a firefight even tougher. We’ll have to be quick and use the terrain for camouflage to regain an edge. Misdirect if possible. My heartrate kicks up, and I nod. All thoughts of Heather, Eden, and our fucked-up issues vanish.

This is where we shine.

“Good. Move out.” He pulls back behind the trunk with a curse as more bullets fly our way. “And be careful—don’t want you going Swiss on me.”

I breathe a laugh as I nod, adrenaline purring through my veins. “No new holes today. Promise.”

Dom grins back, color high in his dark cheeks. I push off the tree and brace myself for an ugly fight.

DOM DUMPS another body on the pile, then rubs his jaw. There’s a nasty bruise blooming where one of them clocked him, and he’s salty they got one in. Still, he came out better than I did. I caught a knife across my chest and left arm. Nothing too serious, but it stings like a pissed-off jellyfish.

We’re back in the clearing where we took out Eden’s hunters two days ago, discarding the remains of the assholes who fired on us. Five more hunters had been lurking in the woods around the area, and it took us hours of cat and mouse before we got them all.

And the five of them must have been hard at work for the last two days because there’s now a deep pit in the clearing, and it’s filled to the brim with more than half of the old bug-ridden bodies. Just one big rancid puppy pile.

We’ve been tossing today’s fresh ones over the top, but this time, as the last body thumps over the others, it groans.

Dom frowns. He crouches and grabs the corpse’s hair as its eyes crack open.

“You’re meant to stay dead, you know,” Dom scolds mildly.

I set my rifle across my shoulders and rest my head back against it. “Must have been a sloppy shot.”