Free The Wolfing Way (Lifting the Veil) by Susan Laine Page B

Rafe and Michael train the horses, and Gabe and Uri tend to the cattle.”
    Tense, holding back his anger at losing control of the situation, Rafe watched and listened to his father and his mate engage in a conversation about tending a variety of animals, grooming them for the rodeo or merely for riding, and herding a hundred head of cattle. Just when Daniel was explaining how they were going into the business of training bucking bulls, Rafe heard a whisper from his right side.
    “Hey, I just wanted to say that you have nothing to prove to me—even if I acted like a jerk and demanded it. I’m sorry.”
    Puzzled at the offered olive branch, Rafe studied Isaiah’s features. He seemed—and smelled—sincere enough. “It’s all right. Kris told me you were just looking out for him. After all, that’s what brothers should do for each other—watch each other’s backs.”
    “You know Kris is into you, right?” Isaiah said after a few bites of his steak and swallows of mashed potatoes.
    His face heating up, Rafe nodded. What they had been doing upstairs in his bedroom had revealed that fact. “Sex is easy,” he confessed at last in a hushed tone. “Being with someone who doesn’t share your interests is not. Opposites may attract, but similarities form a more permanent foundation for a relationship. I’m a cowboy who lives on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, and he’s going to be a scholar who belongs in huge metropolises with intellectual challenges. I’m a lycan who wants to claim his mate, but Kris…. He has a whole life to lead—without me.” Sighing, with a lump the size of Wyoming lodged in his throat, Rafe blinked away a veil of tears. “As much as I want Kris in my life right now, and not later, he should have his chance to go out into the world and make a life for himself so that his dreams may come true. To build the life he’s always wanted—just like I knew I wanted to be a cowboy, and ride in the rodeo, and train horses, and, hell, even mucking stalls—”
    “That’s crap.” Isaiah cut him off tersely, waving his hand dismissively. “What the two of you need is some one-on-one time to figure out what the hell either of you want separately and together, and not greater distance to mull over what you’ve lost before you’ve even had it.”
    While Rafe was busy steaming, all of a sudden he realized Isaiah had spoken so loudly that the whole table full of people now sat in silence, watching them intently. Rafe saw Kris flash his blue eyes as strong as steel while staring at his brother.
    “What?” Isaiah said defensively, spreading his arms. “I’m not saying anything either of you haven’t already thought of. Because—despite what I said before about lucrative opportunities, and fortunate businesses, and all that rot—the truth is, Rafe, you would be damn lucky to have Kris, and he’d be damn fortunate to have you. And no, I’m not talking about a material fortune here. Yeah, sure, there’s the whole business of a marital contract, and all that jazz, but ultimately this is all about the two of you. So, why don’t you kids go on off to play while we grown-ups have a chat, huh?”
    Despite himself, Rafe was beginning to like the slugger, caught somewhere between wanting to punch the guy’s lights out and to thank him wholeheartedly with a huge hug. He decided on a compromise. “Thanks, Iz. I think we’ll do just that.” Turning to Kris, he asked, “Shall we?”
    Already getting up from his seat, Rafe waited silently in place for Kris to decide his own actions for himself. Pretty soon Kris got up too, and without a word, followed Rafe out of the dining room toward the stairs and up to Rafe’s bedroom.
    When the door closed behind them, Kris seemed to enter into fury mode, clenching his fists, shaking his head angrily, and mumbling something angrily incoherent. Rafe waited for a moment for the tirade to end but soon quit waiting when Kris didn’t seem to stop. “I’m beginning