Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3)

Gibson sighed and roughed up the fur on the top of Owen’s head before stretching. “Okay, let’s get this last part done and I can work on Anya’s. It’ll be quicker with hers because I already have the design done and it’s always easier the second time.”

Cole blinked at him, and Gibson was aware he’d spoken more then than usual, but he was trying to get out of his funk and get his mind on the task at hand. He could brood on his own later. It was what he was best at.

“Thanks for doing this,” Anya said softly, Lucas snuggled in her arms.

“It’s what I do,” Gibson said just as softly. And that was true. He wasn’t the kind of fighter Cole was, even if he could hold his own. So he did his best to be a master at the one thing no one else wanted to do.

A scent hit him straight on, and he gripped his machine harder before forcing himself to relax. Thankful the needle hadn’t been in Cole’s skin. But it was damn close. He hated that scent. Hated it as much as he craved it.

Though they were inside his little studio, he had the door open to let out some of the intense heat. It wasn’t as if they had air conditioning or heating within their little homes. They took whatever offerings the SAU gave them and built what they could. There were some genius carpenters and builders within the Packs, but even they couldn’t magically produce equipment that didn’t exist.

And because he had the door open, Oliver’s scent filled the home quickly as the large grizzly bear in human form lumbered inside to watch his sister get her mating tattoo.

“Oliver!” Anya called out with a smile. Still carrying Lucas, she left her lazy cat mate to Gibson’s devices and moved toward her brother. “You came. I didn’t think you would.” She cupped her brother’s face and that big bushy beard of his, and though Gibson couldn’t see her features, he knew she would look worried.

She always looked worried when it came to Oliver.

“I just needed a nap, Anya,” Oliver growled. And though Gibson’s attention was on Cole’s arm, he could still watch out of his periphery as Oliver picked Lucas from Anya’s arms and lifted Owen up from the floor. The large man held both bear cubs in his embrace and looked like he did it every day.

Of course, he probably did.

Since there weren’t that many buildings to house every new member of the compound, people were forced to double up on families. However, since Oliver was the Foreseer—a member of great distinction and sacrifice—he had a house for his family alone.

Gibson also lived alone since he resided in his tiny studio. It was hard enough to do tattoos for people who might not want them without other people looking on. Though he hated when others came in with their newly healed brands and looks of defeat in their eyes. Thankfully, it had been a while since he’d seen that since the adults had been branded years ago. Now those that came in had been born into a world where it was part of their rites of passage.

One day, things would be different. They had to be.

Gibson finished up Cole’s ink and went through aftercare instructions. Though they were different than the instructions he’d give to a human since they were shifters and could heal quickly. Oddly enough, the only human he’d ever had to tattoo was Holden’s mate, Ariel, and she hadn’t been fully human at the time. She’d been the first human transformed into a shifter since the Verona Virus had hit the world and the shifters’ secrets had become paramount. Claire, a wolf who had wanted Holden for her own, had broken the Pack’s trust when she’d told the SAU of their ability to create shifters, not just birth them.

Her betrayal had started the path to redemption and fundamental change they were on. His Pack had changed dramatically in the past few months, and Gibson could only hope it was for the better.

When Anya sat down in his chair after Gibson had cleaned up the area, his wolf was on edge. Oliver hadn’t left his spot near the door as the cubs napped in his large arms. There was something soothing and yet off-putting for Gibson in the sight of such a large man in a flannel shirt even in this heat, decently tight jeans, and two cubs in his arms. He carried them as if they weighed nothing, and yet Gibson knew the two kids were heavier than they looked in that form.

He hated that he couldn’t keep his focus when Oliver was in the room. Of course, if he were truly honest with himself, it wasn’t just Oliver who did that to him. There was another, as well.

There was truly something wrong with his line of thinking if the two people who couldn’t be more wrong for him were the ones that finally let his wolf come out of hiding.

Without another word, he did Anya’s tattoo. This was about her connection and mating to Cole, not about the fact that Gibson couldn’t keep his mind off Anya’s brother and another soul out there who he couldn’t have. This should have been something a little more special than his needing to find a hole to hide in.