Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 170

Colby

The day started normally. I was at a council meeting with Jesse, the two of us trying to deal with what seemed to be petty issues. When it was over, he said he was going to stay a little longer to finish up on some work.

I came home to an empty house. No surprise. Rain was still out coaching, and Lia was out with Simone, the two of them having a girls’ day out.

Who wouldn’t want to have a day off after working as hard as Lia had for the past few weeks?

Yawning, I set to making myself something to eat when I heard some noise outside the front door. Stiffening, I ran out and then found a note.

The note said that they had Matt.

Matt had to go out today to run some errands. We were all doing our own thing, so they must’ve taken that chance to take Matt.

He was gone.

Swallowing, I was trying to comprehend the fact that his pack had him. No, his former pack.

Matt was a member of the Moonveil pack. He was one of us, and we were going to protect him no matter what. But this happened on my watch.

I never should’ve gone out.

No, we all had to go out, but one thing I should’ve done was insist that we stick with each other. Or go out in pairs.

It was important for me to protect the pack. I was the pack leader, and as the pack leader of the Moonveil pack, it was important for me to take care of them.

Quickly, I hopped onto the group text to talk with everyone. We always used the group chat to discuss everything with one another, and this was one of those times where it was an emergency.

Everyone came rushing home at once. When Lia came home, she sat down next to me. She placed an arm around my shoulders, giving me a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Colby-“

I shook my head.

She wanted to comfort me, and while I wanted to accept her comfort, I was struck by all this guilt. I never should’ve left Matt alone. He must be in dire straits right now.

Yes, he was a strong man. I would never doubt that he could protect himself, but the fact was that I should’ve protected someone who was a part of my pack!

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

No matter what anyone said, this was my fault. Lia and the rest of the pack could try to say that it wasn’t my fault, but I know it was.

“Colby,” Lia tried to say again, but once again, I shook my head. “I should’ve stopped them.”

This was the first thing I said after a while, and it was all I could think to say.

Lia sighed, wrapping an arm tighter around me. She was trying her best to continue to comfort me, even though I wanted no part of it. What a wonderful woman she was.

“You couldn’t have, Colby,” Lia said gently, stepping up beside me. Her eyes were sharp, but her voice was steady. “No one could’ve.”

“They took him, Lia.” I swallowed hard. “They took Matt.”

“I know.” She didn’t flinch. “And we’re going to get him back”

I turned away from her, pacing a few feet across the gravel. My boots crunched underfoot, harsh and loud. “Yes, but his old pack took him. You don’t know what that means.”

“Then tell me.”

I stopped, back tense. “They don’t take prisoners. Not for long. Not unless they want something. And with Matt…” My voice dropped. “They’ll see him as someone to use to get to us. It’s obvious they want revenge for something.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” she said softly.

I turned sharply, heat flaring in my chest. “Exactly. That’s what makes it worse.”

She didn’t back down. “This just isn’t your problem, you know, Colby. He’s a part of our pack So it means that it is all our problem. Why are you unable to see this? I wish you would listen to me.”

“I am the pack leader!” I shouted. “It’s up to me to protect everyone, and I failed to do that. What if they attack one of us?

“Then let them try,” Lia said, steel in her tone now. “But we don’t let them keep him. What we are going to do is make sure that we get him. I will not let them keep Matt. Just as I know you won’t want them to keep him either.”

I dragged a hand through my hair, breathing hard. My heart was still pounding from the fight. From the moment I realized he was gone. “They’ll expect us to come. They’ll be watching for it. Waiting.”

“Then we use that.”

She frowned. “What is their end goal, though? I don’t understand why they would want to take him all of a sudden.” “We’ve been in the public eye lately,” Jess said after a while. “Maybe they are jealous.”

Could this be something as simple as jealousy? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. It pained me to think that this was all because they were jealous of the fact that we were gaining status in the world.

How stupid was that?

It was incredibly childish, I might add.

We were just trying to live our lives and make the world better. Not by choice, I might add. Lia had found herself thrust into this role with no choice but to embrace it.

“Any ideas on what we can do?”

I wanted to brainstorm, to try to figure out what we could do. Right now, my mind is blank “We need to track him down,” Rain said after a while, earning a few looks from everyone.

I glared at him, not at the moon, for Rain’s behavior. He didn’t mean it, but I was struggling right now, trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Matt was in their claws.

“Yes, Rain, I know that,” I snapped.

Lia frowned. “Colby, there is no need to shout at Rain. You know he means well. All he wants to do is what all of us want-to find Matt. We’re all worried about him, so please don’t lash out at all of us, okay?”

I winced.

“You’re right, Lia. I’m sorry I shouted at you, Rain.” I winced.

A beat of silence stretched between us, broken only by the soft creak of the old wooden floor as someone shifted. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I just… I hate feeling helpless.”

We all hate feeling like that,” Lia said, hugging me.”

Right now we need to brainstorm. I didn’t know how we were going to find Matt, but somehow we were going to find him and get him back.

There was no way that they were going to keep him.

But we had to find him soon. The sooner the better, because the longer he was with them, the more dangerous it was going to be for our fellow pack member. Not only a fellow pack member but a guy I considered a friend since I was a child.