บททั้งหมดของ The Whispers in the Woods: บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

I had expected him to come back once he cooled off, but it had been hours. I headed downstairs and tried to occupy myself. There was nothing else to do. It wasn’t like I could just go wandering around the camp. I probably could have done, but I didn’t want to. I felt like an intruder, but then I was exactly that. I turned at the sound of movement, expecting it to be Brodie.“Hey, can we talk?” Jackson was halfway down the stairs, looking particularly regretful. I had expected the conversation after all that had happened. There was more baggage to unpack than there would be after a round the world trip.“Sure, have you seen Brodie?” I asked him. It was as much to put the conversation off a little longer as it was to find out the actual information.“He’s stomping around outside being his usual moody self. I just wanted to come and apologise for kissing you. I don’t know what I was thinking.” It wasn’t quite what I expected. The kiss seemed like such a long time a

Brodie guided me into a separate building that was like his cabin, but larger. My parents and Vanessa were already there, seated around a huge oval table. Jackson was there too and some others who I didn’t recognise. They didn’t look overly happy to see me at all. Their gazes were intimidating and cold. I wanted nothing more than to turn and leave. I tugged on Brodie’s arm until he came to a stop, leaving us just out of earshot. “This isn’t quite what I expected.”“What did you expect?”“I don’t know. All of us gathered around a fire in the darkness.” The look of humour that spread over his face showed how amused he was by my stupidity.“We’ve moved past those kinds of rituals these days. We’re more civilised. Not to mention that we live in the Scottish Highlands. It’s hardly healthy to be outside after dark, even with the warmth of a fire.” I continued to follow him to the table and took the seat right beside him. I felt like we needed to show a united front. B

I felt as Brodie’s arms slipped around my stomach. It felt as though his warmth offset the coldness in my soul. Slowly making me feel more human, more myself. To everyone in the room, I must have looked like his little toy. One that he could force to attack and then wind back in. It looked like he controlled me. Except it wasn’t like that. Brodie might have known what buttons to push, but so did I. He hadn’t used me to curb Gerald. That wasn’t the purpose of my anger. It had all been to prove that I shouldn’t be underestimated. That I was just as strong as Brodie and should be respected.I didn’t even care if it looked like Brodie was controlling me. I knew the truth and, frankly, he could control me whenever he wanted to. The heat pumping through my system was enough to make me desperate for him. It was a primal urge. I had no control over it or anything else when it came to Brodie. It took every bit of willpower I had not to throw myself at him right there in that room. Bro

He didn’t look remotely happy about the situation, but he knew it was better for me to deal with it just as well as I did. The whole situation needed to be dealt with by diplomacy, not with threats of violence. We slipped from the meeting cabin and headed around the back of it. I had never really seen much of the camp, but that side of it was surrounded by a mound of soil and grass, no doubt to keep people out. It was steep, and I struggled to keep my balance as we squeezed behind another cabin. As I slipped a little, Jackson reached out and grabbed my hand instinctively.He might not have been able to read my mind like Brodie could, but Jackson definitely had the ability to sense what I needed and when. I held on to him as he guided me around the back of the cabin. I wanted to ask him why we had to go that way, but I already knew it was so no one saw me. Even the members of the pack that would tolerate me being there wouldn’t tolerate me shoving my nose into their business.

I stepped inside the cabin and couldn’t help but wonder how Jackson would react to my presence. It was clear he and Milly were close, but that didn’t necessarily confirm she was anything to do with Brodie. I was disappointed to find he had his back to me when I walked in the door. He was laid down on a brown leather sofa, with his head laid on the arm closest to me. Milly was happily climbing all over him and forcing him to groan, no doubt with pain from whatever Brodie had done to him.Jackson’s cabin seemed so different to Brodie’s. It was much more homely and there were pictures of family on the walls and a canvas of some sort of waterfall over the fireplace. Laid along the back of the sofa was a beautiful red and orange blanket, and there were even cushions dotted around. If I hadn’t known better, I would have assumed he didn’t live alone. I wondered if the difference was because Brodie hadn’t been in his cabin for long.“Jacky?” He leapt up from the sofa and sent