Chapter 268

The ride to Mom’s is tense but quiet. Since marrying Isaac, she’s moved into a nice part of town, with mansions, big back yards, and tall rod-iron fences. Between ever house, it seems like there’s an actual park with benches and trees and flowers.

It’s beautiful really, but it doesn’t feel like home.

Mom likes it though, so that’s enough for me.

Neil pulls the car into the long driveway that curls in a circle in front of the house. Beau parks his motorcycle behind us. I’m surprised he obliged the speed limit the entire way.

“We should say hello first, then come out and get the luggage,” Neil says. We all agree.

I take Mia from her car seat, then together we all walk up to the house.

The brothers stand up straight, making themselves look somehow even more presentable. Then Steven presses the doorbell.

Hurried footsteps rush toward the door, and then the door swings inward, opening. Mom smiles as she sees us, her gaze shifting from the brother to me. Yet as soon as she spots Mia, her smile brightens impossibly further, like sunshine personified.

“Baby!” she shouts as she reaches forward and snatches Mia right out of my arms. “Oh how precious! Look at you, sweet little angel!”

Mia eats up all the attention. She claps her hands, kicks her little legs, and giggles up a storm. It’s so adorable, it eases away most of the sting of my mom not even saying hi to me and going straight for the baby.

Isaac comes to Mom’s side. He looks older than I remember. A little worn around the edges, maybe. But when he sees my mom so happy, he smiles too. It’s sweet.

Isaac, however, is quicker to remember the rest of us standing there. He clears his throat to Mom, who looks up at him. He gestures to us still standing on the front porch.

“Oh!” she says. “Hello, Chloe. Chloe’s friends. Come in. Of course, come in.” She starts to retreat back into the house, up the hallway to the living room. Her attention has returned entirely onto Mia.

Isaac gives us each an apologetic smile. “Chloe, it’s always nice to see you. And the Hayes’s, it’s an honor to have you visit our home.”

“The honor is ours,” Neil says. “We’ll just grab our things and come inside.”

“Oh. I wish I could help you, but these old bones aren’t what they used to be,” he said with a kindly laugh. “Let me get my son.” He steps back into the house just a few steps, so he can grab the handle of the stair and call up to the second floor. “Wyatt! Come help our guests!”

I froze. It’s not that I forgot Wyatt existed, because he was such a major asshole to me, how could I forget? It’s just that, with everything going on, I hadn’t counted on him actually being in this house. I should have. I knew as well as anyone that he has been hiding out here.

The others are not as surprised as me. Neil is frowning. Archer is cracking his knuckles. Beau crosses his arms. Steven isn’t paying attention at all, looking around at the doorframe.

When Wyatt starts heading downstairs, he stops halfway down when he sees us. His eyes go wide. Okay, at least I’m not the only one who hadn’t thought about seeing each other again.

“What the fuck…” Wyatt gasps. Then he sighs. “Shit.”

“Language, Wyatt,” Isaac says.

“Sorry, Dad,” Wyatt grumbles. He trudges down the rest of the stairs. “I guess when you told me Chloe was bringing friends, I should have suspected she’d bring the Hayes brothers. It’s not like she has any actual friends.”

“Wyatt,” Isaac says. He sounds tired. This is clearly not the first time he’s been corrected for bullying me. Gods know what he says behind my back. “Please.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Wyatt grumbles a second time, as begrudging as the first. “Luggage. Right.”

We all turn around to head back to the car. No one says anything and the tension is thick.

When Wyatt sees the packed trunk, he grunts. “You assholes staying for a month or what?”

Archer glares at Wyatt like he’s planning on ripping his head off. Beau narrows his eyes like he fully intends to help Archer. Neil rubs his forehead.

“Just a few days,” I say, trying to ease some of the tension. Long enough to make sure my Mom is safe. I don’t say that. Wyatt is such an ass, he doesn’t deserve to know what are true motives are.

“I’m surprised you don’t have more important things to do,” Wyatt says. He grabs the handles of one of the suitcases. Unfortunately the one he grabs is mine. “Whoring around town with your legs open, for instance.”

It’s a shitty insult, one that I wouldn’t even take seriously, but all four brothers start to growl.

Wyatt rolls his eyes, but I spot the way his shoulders curl inwards too. He’s still afraid of the Hayes’s. Good.

“I can take that bag,” I say, coming closer.

Wyatt looks down at it. “This one yours?”

“Yeah.”

Wyatt begins to remove the back from the truck. Whether by accident or on purpose, the zipper of the back catches on the edge of the car and tears open. Wyatt must see it, the way my clothes start bulging out. It would be hard to miss.

Any sensible person with an intact moral compass would stop right there and rezip the bag. Or at least, carry it a different way so all my clothes aren’t hopelessly ruined.

But Wyatt is neither of those things. He rips the bag out of the trunk while simultaneously turning it sideways. The flap of the suitcase comes fully open, and all of my clothes, including my panties, tumble down into the mud puddles.

It rained recently, and as fancy as the house is, the driveway was poorly crafted. It collects rainwater and mud in certain spots. Wyatt zeroed in on one of those spots like a freaking sniper.

I gasp.

At the same moment, the suitcase falls out of Wyatt’s hands. Mainly because Archer now has him pinned up against the side of the car.

“What the fuck!” Wyatt cries.

Beau stands at Archer’s shoulder. “Fuck you, that’s what! Why would you do that? You got some kind of death wish?”

“It was an accident,” Wyatt shouts, but no one believes that. He can be a decent liar when he wants to be. He’s not trying very hard.

At this point, I’m wondering if maybe he actually does have a death wish, because Archer sure as hell looks like he’s about to kill him.

I look to Neil for help. He’s usually the sensible one, but he’s watching it all with a cold expression. No help there.

Steven still isn’t paying attention. He’s looking at the front of the house. That security system has likely taken over all of his thoughts. Especially after his recent failure.

But still… murder might happen here!

It’s up to me then.

Moving closer, I shove Beau back enough that I can squeeze between him and Archer. Mostly to Archer, but loud enough for the others to hear as well, I say, “This house has a washing machine. A bit of mud isn’t the end of the world.”

“It’s the disrespect, Nanny,” Beau says from behind me. “It cannot be tolerated.”

“So we’re just going to kill a potential ally?” I say, thinking fast.

Archer’s brow furrows. “We don’t need him.”

“He loves his dad. If Isaac is in danger, he will help us,” I say.

Wyatt’s fearful yet rebellious gaze shifts to me. “What the fuck are you talking about? What danger?”

“We have a common enemy,” I tell him.

Wyatt scoffs. “Who?”

Neil comes out of his stoicism, and steps forward. “Our father. The Alpha King.”

Wyatt’s eyes go impossibly wide.