Page 125 of Moon Claimed
Whoa.
I lowered my hand. “Wade… what’s going on?”
“You know what I hate most in this world? I hate people who treat others like shit. Do you know what it was like being a young bisexual in this valley?”
My breath caught at the tears in his eyes.
Wade sniffed hard, dragging an arm across his face. “I’ll tell you what, Andie. It was shit. I see the faces of my bullies every night in my nightmares, and I tell them exactly how weak they were to judge someone who never hurt them. But you know what that means?”
Mute, I shook my head.
“Fuck all.”
Wade sat heavily on the bed. “I’ve neveronceknown you to be mean-spirited, but you never take shit. If you can’t stand up to Rhona, then who will?”
I’d missed how much Rhona’s behaviour affected him. He wasn’t just cheering me on as a friend. He was really upset.
I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I didn’t know this fight was hurting you so much.”
He sniffed again. “Yeah.”
“Who bullied you?”
“Not many from the tribe. Once we knew werewolves existed, it banded us together.”
“The public then, huh? That makes it easier to exterminate them,” I said conversationally.
He choked on a pitiful laugh.
“My position,” I said carefully, “is that Rhona is my last relation and emotionally, I’m not sure if I can hurt her more than she’s already been hurt. Iwillhold my ground, Wade, and I’m asking you to really look at the reaction to what she’s doing. Who just came out on top just before?”
“My girl,” he whispered.
“That’s right. When she demanded to come to pack lands, who came out on top?” I continued without his answer. “As much as it pains me to witness, Rhona is only tearing herself down.”
“Division in the tribe is a problem,” he croaked. “And what about your office?”
“You know Tiptoe Eleanor?”
“Quietest walker in the tribe and maybe all history. Sure.”
“She can pick locks. She’ll get me in, no problem. I’ll tell her I lost my key. Sorted.”
Discontent in the tribe was another problem. Messing with that was a solid no for me, and Rhona was drawing precariously close to crossing the line.
She was off the head team already. Maybe I should consider relieving her of the training leader position until these antics stopped. There was a responsible and mature way to give an opinion, and it wasn’t like that—which she was more than aware of.
“Sorry,” Wade straightened. “You have way bigger problems. I didn’t mean to add another.”
I hugged him tight. “It’s nice to know you need help sometimes. I willalwayshave time for you. You’re the best person I know.”
He hugged me back.
“For what it’s worth,” I whispered, “kids can be fucking assholes when they’re finding themselves. Anyone out of the norm presents an easy way for the most insecure teens to feel accepted. Their words will haunt them a lot more than they haunt you.”
We were still for a time.
“Thank you, baby girl,” he whispered.