Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 173

Jesse

Everyone was going crazy.

But they were going crazy for good reason. Matt was still with people who wanted to seriously hurt him.

I was angry but trying my best to hold my anger back as best I could, not wanting to alarm everyone. When I was angry, everyone would know it.

Matt had a temper, but my temper was more dangerous. I was always more dangerous than everyone here. They all knew it.

I knew it.

Tt was something I wanted to make sure everyone understood. The more they feared you, the less trouble they would give you.

Sighing softly, I sat down at the table, thinking about how this rescue mission was going to go. It was going well. I was determined to make it go well.

“Jesse, what are you thinking about so hard?” Rain asked, talking with a mouth ful1of food. How could someone who could be so smart do something so stupid sometimes?

No, that wasn’t fair of me to say.

All of us were on edge after everything that happened since Matt was taken. It had only been a few days. “Our rescue mission tonight,” I said after a while. “What else would I be thinking about?”

Rain huffed. “I’m trying not to think about. It’s so terrifying to think that tonight we are going to have to try to rescue Matt. Do you think we’ll be able to do it?”

“Of course,” I said, smirking.

Then I decided to smile.

Rain balked, nearly scampering out of his chair.

“Will you stop getting scared by me?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “I know my smiles are creepy, but Rain, you are my pack member and someone I have been friends with for years. You shouldn’t be afraid of me.”

He shook his head. “It’s not that I am afraid of you, but it’s a little jarring when you first see it. Think of it like seeing a horror movie. You’re scared for a while, but then you get into it.”

I snorted. “Great. So I’m a horror movie now?”

Rain shrugged sheepishly. “A little. But like… a good one. You know, the kind where the monster’s the hero?” “Thanks for flattering me, but it’s not going to get you everywhere. I hope you understand that, Rain.”

He laughed-nervous, but genuine. “Noted. I’ll brace myself next time.”

I glanced out the window, where the sky was beginning to dim. The clouds hung low and heavy, promising either rain or more gloom. “We’ll get Matt back,” I said, more to myself than him. “We have to.”

Rain’s voice softened. “I know. I just… I keep thinking about everything that could go wrong. What if we’re too late? What if he’s already-“

“No,” I cut in sharply. “Don’t go there.”

He bit his lip and nodded; the laughter from moments ago drained from his face. “Right. You’re right. Sorry.” “We’ll do this.”

“Of course we’re going to do it,” I said confidently.

I was confident that, come tomorrow morning, we would be waking up with Matt. He was going to be back with us, and then we would figure out what to do with his pack.

There was no way they would ever hurt him or us again.

***

Lia

I checked the straps on my boots one more time, hands shaking even though I tried to play it cool. “Are you okay?” Simone asked me, frowning in my direction.

“Define ‘good,”‘ I muttered. “Because if good includes sweating through my shirt and wanting to throw up, then yeah. I’m doing great.”

Simone gave a soft laugh. “Nervous is normal. You’d be insane if you weren’t.”

“I am nervous. And possibly insane. This feels stupid. Rushing in, hoping they haven’t moved locations or set some kind of death trap.”

She stepped in front of me, gently tugging the zipper on my jacket to straighten it. “You’re not rushing. You’re prepared. You’ve trained. And you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

“Oh, good,” I said. “So I’ll just walk in there and give them a motivational speech about my self-worth.”

She didn’t laugh this time. “I’m serious, Lia. You walk in with your head high. Not because you’re faking it, but because it’s true. You belong here. You’re strong enough. You’ve earned every piece of who you are now.”

“You always know how to say the perfect thing.”

“I’m your best friend. Of course, I am going to constantly say the perfect thing.” I grinned. “Thank you, Simone.”

Then she added, “Oh-and if Matt’s tied up in some creepy basement again, make sure he knows that we missed the fuck out of him.”

I huffed a laugh. “Yeah. He’s getting an ‘I told you so’ before I cut the ropes.” “Atta girl.”

I laughed, giving her a look The two of us hugged, and then I moved to leave the house with the others.

And with that, I slipped into the woods-heart pounding, hands ready, and Simone’s words still burning in my chest. Simone was going to hold down the fort here. As much as I wanted her to come, there was no point in risking the whole pack

I needed to find Matt. It had been on my mind since he was kidnapped a few days ago. I hoped that they had been treating him nicely. But they didn’t treat him nicely when he was in their good graces.

Why would they treat him nicely now?

Everyone else joined me. I was with Rain while Colby and Jesse were going off in another direction. We were going to meet up after we were in the building where Matt was being kept.

Tt was all thanks to Rain that we even had this information..

He didn’t think it was a big deal, but it was. Without him, we wouldn’t be on our way to finding Matt. “Hang on, Matt,” I whispered.

Rain reached over to grab my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“We will find him,” Rain said, grinning.” Only a matter of time now. Matt’s probably going to ask us what the fuck is taking us so long.”

I snorted. “Yeah, you’re right. He probably will do that.”