Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 179

Rain

The celebration for Colby was something I thought would be a game changer. I thought he was going to walk in, grin, and everything was going to be fine but after the celebration it became clear that he wasn’t okay.

He certainly had a good time. There was no doubt about that. I could tell from the way he was laughing, hanging out with all of us, and just having a good old time. But then the celebration ended and Colby ended up vanishing.

My eyes found Lia’s, the two of us sharing a worried look “Where the hell did Colby go?”

“Probably to have a sulk somewhere,” Matt said, taking a bite of the cake Simone had made for the celebration.

As tempted as I was to grab another slice of cake, I knew we also had to go find Colby and talk with him, or one of us did. He was probably upset and sulking somewhere up on the roof or something.

And that was exactly what ended up happening.

I found Colby sitting on the roof again. Alone. Hood up, staring at the stars like they owed him something. “Wow,” I said, hauling myself up beside him, “emo werewolf aesthetic is strong tonight.”

He didn’t even flinch. Just muttered, “Thought I told you to leave me alone.” “You did. I’m ignoring that. Classic me.”

Colby sighed. “Rain-“

“Shhh,” I cut in, waving a hand. “Let the healing begin.” He gave me a side-eye. “You’re an idiot.”

“And you’re sulking. We all have our talents.”

“I’m not sulking.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Dude, you’re perched on the roof, brooding into the night. What’s next, poetry?” That earned a small huff. Progress.

“Just needed space,” he muttered.

“Yeah, I get it. Alpha-ing is hard. Big title. Big pressure. Big hair.” He snorted. “My hair’s fine.”

“Sure, Rapunzel.”

Colby shook his head, still smiling as he leaned back on his hands. “Seriously, though… you didn’t have to come up here.” “I know,” I said. “That’s why I did.”

He was quiet for a moment, eyes still fixed on the sky. “Sometimes it feels like if I mess this up, everything falls apart. The pack The people counting on me. It’s like… I don’t even get to breathe wrong.”

I nudged his arm. “You’re allowed to be tired, Colby. You’re allowed to not have it all figured out.”

“Yeah, well… that’s not how the job works.”

“Says who? The ancient scroll of Overachieving Alphas?”

He gave a soft chuckle, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I can’t afford to screw this up.” “You’re not screwing it up,” I said firmly. “You’re human. Well. Metaphorically. Ish.”

He finally turned to look at me, brow furrowed. “What if I already am screwing it up and I just haven’t noticed yet?” I met his gaze. “Then we’ll fix it. Together. No lone wolves, remember?”

Colby didn’t respond right away, but the tension in his shoulders eased. A beat passed. Then another. “…You really brought cookies, didn’t you?” he asked, eyeing the bag I’d set beside me.

“I bring offerings to the brooding beast.” I opened it dramatically. “Peanut butter chocolate chip. Baked with love and possibly spite.”

He reached for one, took a bite, and groaned. “Okay, yeah. You’re allowed to stay.”

“Thought so.” I pulled my hoodie tighter around me. “I mean, the vibe’s good up here. Cold, but good. Very main-character energy.”

Colby leaned back beside me. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Oh, too late. I’m already writing the memoir. Rain: The Saga of Sarcasm and Emotional Rescue.” “Subtitle: How I Bullied My Friends Into Self-Awareness.”

“Exactly!” I grinned. “Chapter One: You. Chapter Two: You Again, But With Feelings.” He laughed again, quieter this time, but real. “You’re a menace.”

“And you’re not alone.”

He glanced over at me, eyes a little shinier than before. “Thanks. Really.”

“Matt, it’s not helpful.”

I winced. “Yeah, I know and I am sorry about that. It’s just that it feels like we might have gone a bit overboard if you catch my drift.”

“Then we’ll just have to do something more subtle next time,” Lia said with a soft sigh. “Did I fuck up?”

“You did not fuck up,” I said firmly, giving her a gentle look. All you wanted to do was help Colby and make him feel better. It’s just complicated when he is in the type of mood he is in.”

“That’s for sure.”

I stood up and closed the distance between me and Lia, pulling her into a hug. She melted into the hug but then I felt someone else throw themselves against us, trying to get into the hug.

“Rain, your hugging me too tight,” I rasped, wishing he wasn’t hugging me so tightly.

Fuck, Rain was a tighter hugger. I think if he hugged me anymore tightly I ran the risk of dying right here and now.”

“Sorry,” Rain said, sniffing. “I just wanted to be apart of the group hug.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not a group hug if it’s just the three of us.”

He looked over at Jesse who slowly shook his head. “No, Don’t even try it or I will be forced to smile.”

Rain left the room so fast that I thought I was going to get some whiplash. Huffing, I decided to help clean up and eat the rest of the cake.

Our pack leader was going to come down off the roof. Right now he just needed some time to himself. He needed to try to get out of those negative thoughts that kept haunting him and refused to leave. I was sympathetic for the most part but I realized that there was nothing we could do.

We had to wait and let Colby go through the process. once he was able to go through his own process then I was convinced that he would heal on his own. It was just going to take some time on effort on all our parts.

I was happy I had lived through the kidnapping to be able to be here to deal with this. If they had been one day late, I never would’ve survived it. I’m sure of it.