Page 7 of These Wicked Desires
“Yeah, okay.”
He kisses my forehead before stepping away and stripping out of his sweats. I take a moment to admire him, because who the hell wouldn’t? Naked Sterling is impressive. He winks at me before shifting. It’s so seamless and smooth. One second he’s human, the next he’s a wolf.
“I hate how easy you make that look,” I mutter. Kneeling down I run my hands through his thick fur. “Hey Fluffy. What’s up?”
Fluffy gives me a tail wag and licks the side of my face. I swear I can hear Sterling grumbling about me calling his wolf Fluffy.
“Go run,” I say, pressing a kiss to the top of his nose before standing.
I watch the wolf disappear into the trees, worrying my bottom lip. Sterling really needs to make amends with his brother. I know I shouldn’t get involved, but something in me tells me if I don’t, nothing will ever get better between them. I know what it’s like to lose a sibling, and I don’t want that for him. Decision made, I grab his sweats from the ground and fish out his phone. Drew’s number is saved, and I hit dial without giving myself a chance to change my mind.
“Hey man, what’s up?” Drew asks after the third ring.
“Actually, it’s Ellis, not Sterling.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. No? Maybe. I need your help with something.”
The sound of a door closing and footsteps up a set of stairs echo from the phone. “What do you need?”
“Can you take me to see Sterling’s brother?”
A pause on the other end, then, “What the hell for?”
“I need to talk to him. Both of them need to get their heads out of their asses and have a conversation like the adults they are.”
“I’m guessing Sterling doesn’t know you’re calling me about this,” Drew drawls.
“You guess correctly.”
“Annnd I’m also guessing Cade and Kai don’t know?”
“Um, also correct.”
“No. Not a chance in hell I’m taking you from that cabin without them knowing. Ellis, they would murder me and there would be nothing left of my body for anyone to find. Not happening.”
“Drew, please. This is important. Sterling said he won’t challenge Noah unless Cole is his beta.” Silence on the other end gives me a slight bit of hope. “I know you agree with me that Sterling needs to take back control of the pack.”
“Of course I agree with you on that. I just don’t agree with how you’re going about making it happen. Why can’t Sterling do this on his own? He’s a big boy.”
“But he’s really not,” I grouse. “I tried to talk to him and he shut me down. He’s stubborn, and he won’t do this because he thinks what Cole believes is right. In Sterling’s eyes, he’ll never be able to make things up to earn Cole’s trust and forgiveness.”
“But me taking you to see him without any of the guys knowing is not the way to do this.”
I’m silent because I don’t know what else to say. He’s right. I know he is. But I also know that I need to do this. It’s something in my gut. Something screaming at me that this needs to happen.
Drew sighs. “If I don’t take you you’ll go on your own, won’t you.”
My response is silence, because yes. Yes, I will go on my own if he doesn’t take me.
“Fuck me,” Drew mutters. “When?”
My heart lurches. “Now?”
Another heavy sigh. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“I hope you realize by doing this, I have officially signed my own death warrant,” Drew says as he drives his small SUV down the mountain.